As you all prepare your food and roll out your grills take a moment this weekend to remember all those who cannot celebrate with their families. They have sacrificed their lives for the price of freedom. They had not meant to. Who means to fight for their country and not return home to their loved ones?
Their watch has ended.
What didn’t end is the numbing pain their families have to endure with the loss of their loved one. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, wives, children, and friends laid to rest in a coffin. The American flag draped over it, tears and heartache on display, throats constricted with emotion.
As I type this I can’t help the tears running down my own cheeks. The possibility of losing my husband or any of our friends and family currently serving is… horrifying.
So enjoy yourselves this weekend. Stay safe. Remember those that have helped keep us safe. If you choose to drink, do it responsibly and make a toast for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Thank you to those past and present for your service. Thank you to the many loved ones who have done their own sacrifices to support their Soldier/Airman/Sailor/Marine.
*Photo: American war casualties returning to Dover AFB from Iraq in 2004. Photo by the U.S. Air Force. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_test#/media/File:USCasualtiesC130DoverAFB.jpg)
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